Take a Bow
by Sinful Existence
Summary: My take on what happened to the members of the BB Corps after mgs4, assuming that the non-lethal defeat of the beauties is canon. Four little one-shots, one for each beauty. Rated M just to be safe due to references to blood and murder.
1. Laughing Octopus

This is a series of four one-shots, all about each of the BB Corps members after the events of mgs4, under the assumption that Snake didn't kill them. For those that are like "hey, in canon they die," sorry, but when you do a non-lethal kill, they are still breathing and everything when you leave them there. I consider that very much alive.

xxx Take a Bow xxx

Part 1: Octopus

Norway... how long now had she avoided this place? Every since that day, the day she killed her family, she stayed far away from Norway. From the entirety of the area known as Scandinavia, even. Even when her mind was broken and demented, her mind shuddered at the mere thought of this place.

She sighed as she walked along the beach, the sand beneath her bare feet almost soothing. It was almost impossible to tell where her village had been now. What once was a village of small wooden houses, cheery fishermen, and large boats for hunting the local octopus was now nothing more than a lot of sand and the occasional piece of burnt wood. It was the only sign that her people had once been there.

She sighed and sat on a rather large plank of wood and looked out at the ocean. She knew she'd have to go back to work soon, but for now she couldn't pull herself away. She didn't want to waste a moment of the life she, by all rights, shouldn't have still had.

She was surprised when she woke up on the floor of that clinic, curled up tightly on herself but still very much alive. Even if that man had been merciful, the girls had all learned the hard way that years of being inside those suits had made it impossible for them to live outside them. Light at all was uncomfortable and direct sunlight, they assumed, would kill. With the sunlight filtering in one of the windows and right onto her face, however, she was forced to believe that she really was alive and the light really wouldn't hurt her. Had it all been a lie? Perhaps Mantis's sway over their minds went deeper than she thought. Or maybe it had all been psychological. Maybe they were so comfortable in their personas, locked away from their painful pasts, that it hurt them mind, body, and soul to come back out.

Her past... somehow, it felt okay now to not laugh. She no longer felt that pain in her heart. She no longer needed to laugh to keep herself from screaming. Ocelot had told them that killing Solid Snake would cleanse them of their pain, but it seemed that her defeat had done enough. She had continued to hold herself then, well until nightfall, crying on and off as she came to terms and finally let her past rest. As the hours passed she laid there, watching as the black stains across the floor, signs of their earlier struggle, began to show signs of red. How long had it been for her since blood had looked red? It felt like forever to her. It was always black... like the ink of an octopus.

She had waited until nightfall to leave, leaving the tentacles behind and stumbling through the trees, finding her way back to civilization. She wasn't naive enough to think then that she was healed. The pain was still there and the scars were there, and now on top of everything else there was the pain of the last decade or so. How many people she had killed, how many families she had torn apart like her own... She now sympathized with how the other soldiers felt when they were robbed of the SOP system. It hadn't been the SOP system suppressing her emotions though but her own pain in her heart. Now that her laughing was gone, now that her barriers were down, it was like the weight of all her battles and all her sins were weighing on her chest. No... she was far from healed, but... the opportunity was there now. There were still scars on her heart, but they could heal now. She had time. Hopefully lots of it.

Luckily with the world in the chaotic state it was in, she was able to escape to her home, away from the war and away from prosecution. Sitting in a jail cell wouldn't atone for the things she'd done... there were much better uses for her. She wouldn't kill anymore, though. No, that was a choice she made for herself then. She didn't have to kill anymore. She didn't want to.

She picked an alias for herself and ran to Norway, posing as a victim of the various wars with no name and no home. It was so easy to do with the state of the world. No one questioned such a story nowadays. She got a job in one of the seaside villages there, fishing for whatever was there for the season. It was hard work but it reminded her of home, of how her father would come home sweaty, dirty, and smelling of fish but so happy with a day's work. It made her happy, too. Working with her hands, giving food to others instead of giving death. She found happiness here. It had been funny, too... to see the faces of the fisherman as such a petite girl asked for such muscle-driven work. It was true, too, that most of her battling ability was in the tentacles she wore on her head, but she didn't always have that suit. There was a time she was simply a soldier, using what she could to defeat her enemies. Even after getting her suit she was still rather toned. It took getting used to but soon she won the men over quick with what she could do.

She sighed and dug her toes under the sand, simply enjoying the sun a bit before she got a scolding for running off. She had just been thinking of home and needed a moment to herself. After a few moments, though, she got up and made for the village. After all, it wasn't like she hated her work. And today they were hunting big fish, maybe a few sharks, and that meant they were going far out in the ocean. She loved being surrounded by the sea. The ocean was probably one of her favorite parts of the job.

She had wondered to herself a few times what it would have been like to go back to being a soldier. She was certainly good at it and with the chaos of the new world she heard the pickings were pretty good. Still... she couldn't stand the thought of spilling more blood, watching as it turned from red to black again. No, no... she loved her life here and she wouldn't trade it for anything. She only hoped that the other three were doing okay and would be able to find the same peace she knew now.

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End.


	2. Raging Raven

This is part two of my four-part epilogue series for the BB corps. Hope you enjoy it.

xxx Take a Bow xxx

Part 2: Raven

Her eyes scanned the air carefully from her huddled position beneath an outcropping of rocks, the only sound being the wind through the trees and the steady breathing of her platoon behind her. It was really a twist for her... shooting things out of the air instead of firing from above. But no one knew about aerial tactics quite like her... what they looked for, how they moved, what they were capable of. It used to be her in the sky, but now she couldn't stand to spread her wings again.

Now she was a part of the Black Bear PMC, heading their surface-to-air missions and providing backup against aerial reinforcements. They were currently stationed in a small country just off the border of China. The country was small and their government lacking in forces, so back then it had been so easy as a member of SNAKEHOUND to go in and stir shit up them. Odd, how she was now fighting to defend this country instead of destroy it. In the chaos of the new world created by the shut down of SOP, the country had hired PMCs, trying to win back their freedom.

This is where she wanted to be, though. This PMC had a knack for choosing clients in actual need, usually those trying to win freedom rather than those trying to oppress. Because of their clients being smaller countries, though, they had to charge less. You could say they were a budget PMC for the oppressed and desperate. This suited Raven just fine, though. In fact, it made her feel like she was fighting for something now instead of pure rage and hatred.

"Oh man... I think I'm gonna blow chunks..."

Raven groaned and pointed over her right shoulder, her voice firm but quiet, "Damn it Fernando, shut your mouth and lay low!"

Her only response from the dark-haired soldier was a whine as he muttered a bit quieter, "We're surface-to-air, Captain, it's not like anyone will- HEY!"

"SHHHH!"

Raven wanted to run a hand over her face. She hit a taller, bulkier man in the arm with her elbow and hissed, "Don't hit the kid, you're making him louder!"

The man gave Fernando a look that clearly told him to shut it or he was in serious trouble. Four pairs of eyes turned upward as they heard the familiar sounds of helicopter blades against the wind. Raven made a sharp, downward swipe with her hand and the bulkier of the two men and the only other woman there ran under the cover of the outcroppings toward another firing point, readying themselves for the onslaught. She could almost feel Fernando shaking behind her and sighed, motioning him forward, "Come where Tarina was, it'll be easier this way. Set up your Javelin 47 degrees up and straight to the southeast."

Her eyes turned away from the rookie as he did as he was ordered with shaky hands, her hawk-like eyes moving toward where the fighting was getting closer. That was the plan... their ground platoons would fall back into this area. The enemy's main troops would follow and it would be over this clearing that the air support would strike. That was when they would fire and knock the air support out.

If the rookie could get his bearings.

Raven sighed and looked back over at him, adjusting the rocket launcher on her shoulder before muttering, "Okay, look, nothing to panic about. We're not on the front lines. Just stay focused on your objective. Remember that your opponent can hover and fly straight up as well as moving like a normal aircraft. Keep in mind the arc of your shot, always aim slightly above your target. Aim for the blades or the fuel tank." She put a hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly, almost in a friendly way, "And relax."

His eyes turned to hers, fear etched in his face, "I get all that, I really do... but damn it, I'm going to be killing people!"

Raven sighed and closed her eyes, "You remember those children you were playing with earlier in the village? That little girl, Xioyu? What about all those little boys?" Even as she spoke of these children, though, her inner eye was on a completely different village, focused on very different kids... including herself, "What will you do if we lose? What will happen to those kids? They're counting on us. If those men live, those children could very well end up their victims."

He bit his lower lip between his teeth, an obvious war going on inside his own head even as the sound of their current war roared louder in their ears, the fighting nearly upon them. His hands gripped the rocket in front of him tightly to stop his shaking, his voice tight, "Yes, but that doesn't mean what I'm taking aren't human lives. They have just as much right to live as anyone else."

The Captain just sighed and hit him lightly in the shoulder, lining up her shot as she spoke, "In war, kid, that sort of logic will get people killed. Sometimes people need to be sacrificed for a worthy cause." Despite the shocked look on his face, seeing that he obviously wanted to stop her, she fired her rocket, hitting a helicopter right on the tail. The gunner on the aircraft turned to fire in the direction her shot came from but it was already billowing smoke, the fire running up the tail to the fuel tank until the craft exploded in a ball of fire and crashed to the ground. She couldn't tell if Fernando was going to cry or faint but it wasn't the time for it. It was his shot.

But he wasn't firing. He wasn't even close. He was too shaken up to do anything and his target was sweeping in to take care of the ground troops. She reached over to fire his rocket but with a startled cry he slammed into her, trying to wrestle her away from his rocket. She cursed and grabbed his arm, aiming an elbow for his face, but between his combat training and his sheer, utter panic he managed to move aside of the hit and slam her in the stomach with his fist. She choked a bit as her diaphragm was hit, cursing, until a rocket crashed into the target, destroying it.

She looked to Fernando's panicked face, then the Javelin just as he did. Both noticed the rocket hadn't deployed. Raven turned her eyes to the other outpost where Tarina gave Raven a brief thumbs up as she hastily tried to reload for the shot she was supposed to take.

Raven wanted to hit this kid. To yell at him and try to impress on him just what he could have cost them, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. It wasn't even just panic in his expression. It was complete and utter despair. She wondered if she'd ever instilled that into her own prey in the past. A dangerous woman, capable of killing hundreds but still a woman, flying high above her enemies. Even if they had her skill, many of them perhaps considered she was a woman and that her life was important enough to hesitate over. If you fired, you were kill someone who for all you knew could have just been a helpless part of the war machine. But if you didn't, you knew you were letting a dangerous enemy get their way and innocents might suffer as a result.

She patted him on the back and let out a sigh, hearing cheers near her as the last helicopter was shot down. Already the enemy's ground troops were down to minimal numbers and it was clear on their faces that they knew it was hopeless. They had pretty much won by this point.

Raven gave a brief signal to Tarina and Marcus, shaking her head and pointing to Fernando. She was getting him out of their early. He already looked too panicked by all the killing around him. The last thing they needed was him running out in the middle of the fight to try to pull away someone's gun.

She brought him back to their tents in the village, forcibly sitting him in a chair and putting a canteen of water in his hands. He didn't waste time in drinking, almost a little too fast and nearly choking as a result. Raven shook her head and muttered, "You nearly cost us the mission, you know. Next time if you're not ready, don't come with us."

She was interrupted when the same kids from earlier poked their head in the tent, the opening of the tent letting them hear the cheers outside. They had won.

The kids swarmed Fernando and nearly knocked him over, grinning and babbling to him. Mostly in Chinese but they'd learned enough before being sent here to get the gist. They were happy and grateful to them. They were safe because of the Black Bears.

She watched as Fernando broke down and cried, hugging the kids back and forcing a smile for them. Raven shook her head and smiled despite herself. It was things like this that often helped the softer soldiers feel what they were doing was worth it.

She quietly left the tent, smiling at soldiers as they ran past her and into the tents and bowing in return to the occasional villager as she walked. She wondered what it would have been like if the troops in her village had won. What if their protectors had been victorious? Perhaps she would have been like those kids instead of being fed to the ravens... happy. Absolutely joyful and grateful to the soldiers around them. Unlike Raven, who had been afraid of soldiers just like all the other kids.

She spun around when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Fernando looking over at her. He gave her an apologetic smile and spoke quietly, "I'm sorry Captain. Next time I won't hesitate."

She peeked around him to see the kids behind him, waiting for him to be done talking to her so they could drag him off to play, no doubt. She gave a smile and ruffled his hair roughly before pushing him away by his forehead, "Yeah kid, make sure you do that. Now go take a break. I'm sure the kids would like it too."

She looked around the village as Fernando and the kids ran off, chuckling to herself. So this was what it was like to watch an unlikely victory. She couldn't help but feel jealous, but also happy. No one should have to go through what she went through. It was part of why she loved this PMC. If all she did for the rest of her life was prevent another disaster like her hometown, she'd gladly sacrifice the rest of her life.

And that, to her, was a worthy sacrifice.

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End.


	3. Crying Wolf

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this. Life will suck you away like that. My PS3 recently bit the dust and I've had to start MGS4 from scratch again. The experience renewed my interest in getting these last two pieces done.

xxx Take a Bow xxx

Part 3: Wolf

The wolf. The howling, crying beast. She'd been that for so long that she had almost doubted her ability to return to humanity. She remembered when she woke up that day, huddled in a cave of what looked like furs, until she realized it was several wolves curled around her. The first thought she had was that they were going to eat her. She had learned, however, that they were rather tamed and friendly for wolves. Perhaps someone had trained them. Cared for them.

She had left the cave in search of something. Anything. She stumbled across a skeleton in the snowfield. A skeleton she'd seen before actually. When she'd first taken up her post here, the wolves were laying around it. She sneered upon the weak, dead person who dared trespass in the realm of beasts and obviously were devoured by them.

When she looked a second time though, after that man had beaten her down and tamed the beast within her, she saw the skeleton with a new light. The wolves hadn't devoured this person, they revered them. Who was it? Was it another beast like herself? Another wolf trapped in battle until it consumed them?

Perhaps being a beast herself didn't condemn her to being a tool of death. Perhaps she was still capable of respect and mercy. Perhaps...

"Doctor, your operation is in five minutes."

The wolf snapped from her thoughts and looked over her shoulder. For a moment all she could see was endless snow. Snow with a pair of wolves that were trying to lead her toward an exit. Toward an escape from this senseless battle. Then the vision faded to show her on the roof of the hospital, one of the nurses poking her head out of the door of the stairwell to look at her with concern.

She stood up and smiled to the nurse, straightening out her uniform and nodding, "Of course, I just needed some air." She followed the nurse back downstairs and into the operating room, going about the routine of sanitizing herself and her tools, putting on her gloves... In a place where business was a bad thing, it was unfortunately booming. So many battles being fought, so many maimed or dead. She had felt it her duty to help in any way she could. But she was no soldier. In close combat, her suit had protected her. She had kept most of her fighting to sniping. It just felt cowardly to her now, though. Besides, enough blood had been shed.

The surgery was a success. While the young solder would not be able to run or do any strenuous activities anymore, he still had the majority of his leg and would at least be able to walk. Her steady hands came in handy for operations like this, where shrapnel slipping within the body could just cause more damage.

She wandered the hospital a bit before her next operation, checking on the rooms of her patients, making sure everyone was recovering and as comfortable as she could make it for them.

Her feet wandered to a certain ward, even though it only ever caused her pain. She had a habit of doing this if she didn't go to the roof to escape the temptation, but now it was like a force was pulling her forward.

The maternity ward.

She clenched her teeth a bit, hearing the cries of newborn babies. Cries from being born, cries from being hungry or needing their diapers changed... cries, she had to remind herself, that were not of pain or fear. It was natural. It's what babies did.

She wandered into one of the nurseries, seeing the beds with the babies. She tentatively touched one softly, affectionately on its head, shocked when bright, blue eyes looked up at her. The baby didn't cry, it just looked at her curiously. Maybe he was curious about her. Maybe he expected food. She didn't know. It was hard for her to tell.

She unconsciously backed out of the room, her body shaking as she removed herself from the ward and made her way back upstairs. She sat on a bench up there and sucked in a shaky breath. At least she hadn't run screaming or gotten hysterical. She remembered when a few times she had to be forcibly restrained after visiting that ward. She never told the doctors why she had these reactions. She was afraid they'd block her from entering, at the risk of her killing the children. She'd never get over this fear if she didn't at least try.

Every other day she'd try to go in. She'd last a little while but she'd eventually have to leave, the sounds of the babies' cries ringing in her ears.

The guilt would haunt her as long as she lived. The guilt of killing her own brother. She was getting better, though. She wasn't reacting as extremely to the babies anymore. She wasn't shaking and screaming about it. She felt that, in time, she could heal. Maybe forgive herself.

Maybe she was just a masochist. That would explain why she would immerse herself in the most painful memory imaginable. But she'd spent so much of her life avoiding her mistake. Hiding behind the wolf. Trying to deny what she did so she wouldn't have to cope. As much as it hurt, she had to let the wound bleed so she could stitch it back up. So it wouldn't become infected and corrupt her soul like before.

No, she'd get past this. She was still young. She would get over this, so when she was ready for a family of her own, she could look upon her own child with, not fear and guilt, but the love and pride that her brother deserved.

End.


	4. Screaming Mantis

I'm sorry this took so long to come out. I have been busy with other things and then recently came back only to wonder about some of the fics I currently have up. But I digress. This will be the final chapter of this story, circling Screaming Mantis this time.

I'd like to note that according to lore, Screaming Mantis is NOT psychic. She had Psycho Mantis's psyche implanted in her and used people's nanomachines to control them. That being said, with the lack of such powers now, I'm going to assume her a normal person... well, as normal as they get.

Thank you to those that enjoyed this fic, as short as it is. I hope the last chapter isn't too disappointing. Screaming Mantis was the only one I really couldn't see the ending for clearly in my head, so it took me a long while to get to this point.

xxx Take a Bow xxx

Part 4: Mantis

Dr. Regina Martin walked briskly down the halls of Tate Mental Hospital, a clipboard clutched firmly in her arm. She'd had issues with a particular patient as of late. Some were rather rude, attributing it to her youth and inexperience. Others knew how hard it was nowadays, with so many soldiers recovering from the SoP system. Many of them had experiences that normal people might not even believe, so it was hard for even a seasoned psychiatrist to get through them.

One of her colleagues had suggested a specialist to her, pointing her to Tate. Relieved and willing to take any help at this point, she took the opportunity.

She went up to the front desk, handing the receptionist a sheet off her clipboard, "Hi, I'm Regina Martin. Michael Sullivan recommended me to come see the specialist."

The receptionist scanned the paper briefly then gave Regina a warm smile, stamping the paper and handing it back to her, "Ah yes, we were told to expect you. Just follow Richard." She motioned with her hand toward one of the security officers, who tipped his head in greeting and led her down a pristine, white hallway. She was surprised when they stopped in front of what looked like a patient's room. Her face wrinkled a bit in something of a frown, looking up at Richard, "There must be a mistake, I was told I'd be meeting-"

"-the specialist," he finished, "She's in here."

Regina felt it a bit unorthadox to give her a consultation while taking care of one of her patients, but she supposed she should be glad she could meet with her at all. She assumed she was busy.

Regina entered the door, surprised when the security guard closed the door but didn't lock it. Weren't they afraid of the patient escaping?

She looked around. The room was actually a lot more furnished than she expected. The patient had things like a TV, several books, a large window, and even a chessboard. She noticed a woman sitting on the bed, but oddly, she was alone. She looked rather beautiful, almost like she didn't quite belong there but on a runway, perhaps. She was wearing the same outfit all the other patients wore, white pants and a t-shirt, though she had a silver bracelet on and a couple of stud earrings. Weren't patients not allowed anything sharp?

She couldn't see anyone but the woman in the room and wondered if she'd been tricked somehow.

The patient gave her a knowing smile and stood up, "Hello, you must be Dr. Martin. They told me you'd be coming to see me today."

Regina could only stare in shock. The specialist was.. a patient?

"This.. this has to be some sort of joke," she muttered faintly. Then feeling she shouldn't have said that out loud, she covered her mouth, looking up apologetically.

Rather than be offended, the patient smiled, a laugh in her eyes, "Don't worry about it, I get that a lot. I had myself committed after the events of the recent war, but I assure you, I'm the specialist you came to see." She held out a hand, "My name is Angelina. At least, that's what they're calling me."

Regina shook her hand, still in a bit of a daze, "Nice to meet you."

Angelina motioned to a rather comfortable-looking chair that was sitting across from the bed, "Please, have a seat." She sat back on the bed while Regina took the offered chair across from her. She shook her head a bit, then handed a sheet to her, "Um.. the patient's name is Will Garcia."

Angelina took the paper gently and looked over it for a moment. She looked up at Regina, her eyes still swimming with a few questions, "Did you bring any other information? More notes about the patient?"

Regina nodded and handed her a few more pages, this time scrawling with written text instead of printed. Angelina was quiet for a long moment before handing back all the papers, her eyes thoughtful, "I'm thinking the reason he won't open up about that particular battle has to do with a child."

Regina's brow creased, "I was sure it was a woman myself, but every time I've tried to get more information, he's locked up tight."

Angelina shook her head, "It's been my experience that men will admit to grievances against a woman more readily than a child. Women can be a threat, women can be soldiers," she seemed to smile wryly to herself, like enjoying an unspoken joke at her last comment, "However, children are innocents. To harm one is an unspeakable offense, especially with someone with a conscience. This man only recently got such a thing back, I can't imagine he's having an easy time forgiving himself, much less expecting someone else to forgive him."

Regina nodded a bit to herself, "I suppose so. I guess the best coarse of action would be to stop pushing him for the information and just work on getting him to forgive his transgressions first."

Angelina nodded, "That would perhaps be best." She looked up as the door opened, Richard sticking his head in and giving Angelina a friendly smile, "Lunch is in about five minutes ma'am. Probably best to wrap up soon."

She smiled back and nodded, "Thank you Richard, I'll be sure to do that."

She stood up and offered Regina a hand again, which the doctor shook a bit more sincerely this time, "I'm sorry our time was so short. Hopefully you got the help you were seeking."

Regina smiled and nodded, "Yes, I think I'll be able to manage. Thank you Angelina."

Richard escorted Regina down the hall soon after toward the front lobby. She found herself conflicted but finally looked up at Richard, "So what's her story, anyway? She said she committed herself, but she seems perfectly fine to me."

Richard nodded, "Yes, well, we wonder that sometimes, too. She's allowed so many freedoms due to the fact that we honestly don't see a reason for her to be in here. Other than refusing to tell us her problem, she is perfectly behaved."

Regina sighed, "So you guys don't know either, huh? Such a mystery..." She shrugged, "Well, I'll send papers to her for a follow-up."

She left soon after, questions swimming in her head.

A month later, Angelina was surprised when, with her lunch, Richard also dropped off a letter. She saw the name Regina Martin on it and smiled, opening it up and reading.

_Angelina,_

_I wanted to thank you for your consultation last month. It's been hard but he's finally opening up. I thought you might like to hear the results._

_It turns out, almost twenty years ago, he was in charge of a torture unit in South America. They would burn villages and torture the men. Well, one of the times, he was disposing of a body and realized there was a young girl there, one that looked like she was from one of the villages. He was ordered to lock her in and just let her starve to death._

_He knew, though, that she wasn't starving. She seemed to be feeding on the corpses and drinking bloodied water that dripped through the floor. He had a feeling deep down that she was suffering, that she was being mentally abused by the torture she could hear above, but due to his nanomachines and his orders, he couldn't disobey easily. One day he purposely left the door unlocked despite his orders and let the girl free. She disappeared after and he assumed she escaped, but he wasn't really sure on it._

_Either way, he considered himself responsible. Even now he dreams of the girl's eyes, constantly glaring at him in hate. Completely unforgiving of him. That is a large reason he's unable to forgive himself now. He feels he can't until she does._

_I'll keep you update on his progress if you wish._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Regina Martin_

Angelina ran a finger down the paper, simply pondering what she read for well over an hour or two. When dinner came that night, she requested paper and a pen of Richard, who gave it to her without question, like usual. She started writing, giving her little bits of advice here and there. Letting her know that she was happy for the correspondence and hoped to keep hearing from her about her patient.

At the very end of the note she found herself writing one last thing.

_Tell your patient that the little girl forgives him. He freed her and in the end, that's what matters. He should move on and find happiness._

She smiled and signed the letter before giving it to Richard to send. Laying in bed, she was surprised to find tears in her eyes.

Maybe one day she'd decide to walk out of this place on her own. Maybe she'd forgive herself and move on, just as she advised Regina's patient to do.

She looked up at her window, lit up by moonlight. She watched as a little black mantis sat on the windowsill. It groomed its face a bit in the light, then looked toward her before vanishing into the night.

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End.

Thank you again to those that read this story.


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